I am deeply moved by visiting the Munich synagogue.

Munich was a city where Nazism developed in a very dramatic way, in its early stages. I believe the headquarters was the brown house.

And so, to be here, in the Munich synagogue with the vibrant Jewish community of Munich and of Germany, as a special meaning for me. Anti-semitism had its most dramatic moments in history with Nazism. And of course, it culminated in the worst crime committed by humanity. That was the Holocaust.

But anti-semitism was not born with the Nazis and did not die with the Nazis.

I was in Masada. And I lived the feeling of the Jewish people about the expulsion of the Roman Empire in the first century, and how the Jewish community has spread in the Roman Empire but, since the beginning, became in the different areas of the empire, victim of different forms of segregation, discrimination and persecution. And let me be frank, with the Christianization of the empire, things got worse with the mythology that the initial Christian churches have about the role of the Jewish in the death of Jesus and things of the sort. So, the truth is that the Christianization of the Empire has increased anti-semitism in Europe.

And then we had the Middle Ages. And we have seen during the Middle Ages, everywhere where Jewish communities were, forms of persecution, discrimination, segregation, and I can speak by my own country and I'm honored to have the president of the Portuguese Jewish community here with me.

We had during the Middle Ages in different moments and with different intensities, these forms of persecution, but of course, the horrible moment of the Portuguese history in relation to the Jewish community was the edict of expulsion of King Manuel I in the beginning of the 16th century - the most criminal and the most stupid act of the Portuguese power. Criminal because it dramatically impacted, made terrible suffering in the Jewish community of Portugal. Stupid, because, with the departure of so many of our citizens of the time, Portugal has lost the energy and the we witnessed a clear economic decadence from the 17th century onwards. So, it was criminal, and it was stupid. And I'm very happy to see the Portuguese Jewish community now becoming vibrant again.

I always felt this very strongly when trying to understand the reasons of the decadence of my country after the so-called period of the overseas expansion. And I always felt that Portugal had paid the price of its anti-semitism and of the extreme form that that anti-semitism took in the beginning of the 16th century.

And that is the reason why when I became prime minister, after winning the elections, we have decided that the Portuguese parliament would approve and we approved the revocation of the Edict of expulsion. So, it was a symbolic gesture obviously, the article was no longer valid legally. But formally, the Portuguese parliament has revoked it and I had a chance to deposit it in one of the most beautiful temples in the world, the Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam.

Many of those that fled Portugal after the [inaudible] that was rather complex in the time, but to me the emergence of communism and revolt against Spain of the Dutch, the Netherlands became an important point of refuge for the Jewish community. And the Jewish community of Amsterdam, has built one of the most beautiful temples I've ever seen.

And it was not only emotional to go there and to pay tribute to that Portuguese community that left, and to apologize for what we have done. But, it was also terrible to see that that that wonderful Temple was almost empty, because that community, that vibrant community had been completely decimated by Nazism, by the Holocaust. And, so to a certain extent, this community was a double victim of the stupidity and criminal action of the Portuguese government at the time, and then the victim of the Nazi holocaust. When they thought that they found a prosperous community where they could live in peace.

 Anti-semitism is unfortunately spreading today. It has has, I would say, a clear acceleration since the horrific attacks of Hamas on the 7th of October, but it was already a central concern for us in the last decades. We have seen how it was multiplying both online and offline with all kinds of manifestations, desecration of cemeteries, personal attacks on people, vicious actions online and worst, an attempt to rewrite history.

You have seen, all across, denial and we have seen in several European countries and attempt to, I would say, whitewash what had been their contribution to the Holocaust and the contribution of some of their political leaders of the time in relation to the Holocaust.

And we have been very determined in considering that anti-semitism  the oldest the most pervasive and the most abject form of hatred in the history of humankind, that we must be in the center of fighting anti-semitism in all its aspects.

Obviously, we live in a complex moment. I said, publicly, that I considered that the denial of the right to existence of the State of Israel was a form of anti-semitism. And I maintain that position. I can have disagreements sometimes with the policies or the actions of the government of Israel, but that can never be confused with a very clear belief that the rights of the people of Israel to live in security is necessary. And the clear belief that anti-semitism in the world must be fought with total energy, and I hope that a solution will be found. I have also other concerns about other phenomena that are happening. Other people are suffering. We all know all this but that doesn't change in anything my deep belief that anti-semitism, as I said, is the most permanent, permanent, pervasive and abject form of hatred in the history of humankind. And that to fight anti-semitism is a moral obligation of everybody, independently of religions, of ethnicity, and independent of any other political consideration.

I recently read a research of a Portuguese historian about the nature of anti-semitism.

And it is very interesting because, in that research, looking into not only the craziness of the Nazi mythology of the Aryan race, but also looking into the history of Portugal, there was this analysis that anti-semitism is not only a question of religion, it is a question of racism. And the proof was that the Inquisition was savagely persecuting the Jews that have converted to Christianity.

Even if they have converted, they went on being persecuted because they were Jews, which demonstrates that in anti-semitism, there's a deep root of racism that we need to fight with all our energy.

I am deeply moved to be here with all of you and to say that it is amazing that in this city, where the Nazi Party largely emerged, in this city, you have such a beautiful synagogue that demonstrates the vitality of the German Jewish community.

Thank you very much for your generosity in receiving me.

Thank you.